Untangle your swing

Beware these common faults

By Randy Smith

With Matthew Rudy

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What is it about the ball? A player can make a decent practice swing--not perfect, but smooth and on-plane--then do something completely different to hit the ball. You start thinking hard about where the club should go in the seven-tenths of a second the swing actually takes, and everything gets jerky and off-balance. The club seems like it's getting tangled on its way to the ball. Why? All teachers have "positions" they like to see players reach during the swing, but the swing is a dynamic, fluid motion, and good players get to those spots as part of the overall motion. Players trying to improve--and I'm putting tour players in that group, too--try so hard to get into good positions that they manipulate the club out of balance. The swing becomes a tangled mess of compensations and re-routing. Look at the three common tangles I'm demonstrating here, and see if you recognize your swing. If you do, look below and try the drills there. You already have a good swing: You use it every time you make a practice swing. I'll help you make that same untangled motion when you step up to hit the ball.

Photos by Dom Furore